


Living the Same Lie

by spencers-renaissance (tomlinsoul)



Series: 2020 12 Fic Challenge [5]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: (From an Outside Party), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking Up & Making Up, But also cripplingly stupid, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Back Together, Hospitals, Hurt Spencer Reid, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Mentioned Sexual Assault, Insecurity, Loneliness, M/M, Making Up, Mutual Pining, Post-Break Up, Protective Derek Morgan, physical assault, they are very in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:52:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27330766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomlinsoul/pseuds/spencers-renaissance
Summary: “Spencer, I… this is the last thing I want you to do,” he says, looking slightly distraught.It’s all Spencer can do to hold back the tears welling in his eyes at the weight of the decision he’s making. He’s voluntarily leaving the family who’s welcomed him in with open arms, the man he’s loved for over a year, the home he’s built for himself piece by piece. And yet, he genuinely does not feel like he has any other choice.“Well,” Spencer smiles softly, no venom in his tone, “this is my decision, and you have no other input besides a superior’s so. This will be my last case.”or; Aaron breaks up with Spencer, but when an attempt to move on goes horribly wrong they get a second chance.(Stand-alone oneshot as part of my 12 Fic Challenge - it has no relation to other works in this series.)
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid & The BAU Team
Series: 2020 12 Fic Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972651
Comments: 2
Kudos: 141





	Living the Same Lie

**Author's Note:**

> See detailed CW for assault and sexual assault in end notes.
> 
> Please excuse any Britishisms and enjoy :)
> 
> This is part 6 of my 12 Fic Challenge.

Spencer tried so hard. He’d come into work every day for the past three weeks and been completely professional, he’d worked the cases to the best of his ability, he’d done everything he could to avoid a hostile work environment. But he’s exhausted. He can feel a little piece of himself chipping away every time he walks through the door to the bullpen. He can’t help but feel jealous when Aaron laughs with Derek or smiles at Emily; he can’t help but feel like everyone needs to take sides in a battle they weren’t even aware was being fought. 

He can’t tell his friends what’s happened, which is one of the worst parts. He’d be risking his career and he’d be risking Aaron’s, so he’s completely lonely and isolated, as though he’s floating in a bubble completely separated from everyone else, screams for help drowned out by the comfortable, familiar laughter on the other side. 

The truth is, he doesn’t like who he’s become since the break-up, so he’s doing something he’s never even considered before. He’s handing in his letter of resignation. 

He gets to work early as he always does, but instead of sitting down at his desk and starting work or pulling out his book if there’s nothing to do, he heads up the stairs and knocks on the door to Aaron’s office. If it wasn’t for Jack he isn’t sure he’d be leaving the office at all. It’s something he’d had to train out of him a year ago at the start of their relationship, coaxing him home with the promise of food and sex and sleep until it became a habit to leave at a sensible time. He’s not around to do that anymore, though.

“Come in,” Aaron calls monotonously, not looking up from his paperwork. Spencer slips into the seat in front of his desk, making him look up in surprise. Over the past few weeks they’d both tried very hard to avoid situations in which they’re alone, so he clears his throat a little awkwardly before acknowledging him. 

“I’m here to give you this,” he says solemnly, hand shaking a little as he seals his fate by handing over the letter.

Judging by Aaron’s face, he knows exactly what he’s holding in his hands. “Spencer, I… this is the last thing I want you to do,” he says, looking slightly distraught. 

It’s all Spencer can do to hold back the tears welling in his eyes at the weight of the decision he’s making. He’s voluntarily leaving the family who’s welcomed him in with open arms, the man he’s loved for over a year, the home he’s built for himself piece by piece. And yet, he genuinely does not feel like he has any other choice. 

“Well,” Spencer smiles softly, no venom in his tone, “this is my decision, and you have no other input besides a superior’s so. This will be my last case.” He stands up as his belly twists in a guttural kind of sadness and takes a deep breath before walking out the door, methodically clenching and unclenching his hands in a vain attempt at self-soothing, leaving Aaron staring after him, turning the letter over in his hands. 

★

They’re both more withdrawn while working the case, nothing new for Spencer -- not since the breakup -- but Aaron gets a few curious looks thrown his way, and Spencer doesn’t miss Dave bringing him aside for a chat at one point. Nothing changes, to his relief; he plans on only telling the team he’s leaving on his last day. He doesn’t want the inevitable interrogations or the following sympathy, he’ll leave the BAU in a clean-cut, orderly fashion, the way most good things in his life have ended. Spencer Reid doesn’t do mess. 

He knows Aaron feels guilty and in a sick kind of way, Spencer’s glad. He is the reason, afterall, that this is happening at all and if anyone is to blame it’s him. Deep down, though, in a more truer sense, he doesn’t want Aaron to feel bad, he never wants him to feel any negative emotions because even after all this, Spencer is still so heart-wrenchingly in love with him. If he was allowed, he’d wrap Aaron up in a hug and tell him how brilliant he is, how much he loves him, how he never wants to be apart from him ever again.

But he isn’t allowed. Aaron has made that very clear. He isn’t wanted anymore, and if that just had to extend beyond their relationship and into the wider BAU, well. What’s done is done. 

Spencer asks Penelope to gather everyone up into the conference room as soon as they get back from Portland, everyone chatting happily amongst themselves as the good mood from the end-of-case high persists. They quieten down, though, as they see Spencer standing at the front of the room, twisting his hands nervously. “Um, I asked Penelope to grab you guys before you left because this is my last day,” Spencer says, voice full of apprehension and sorrow.

“What?” Penelope asks in shock, mouth dropping open as her eyes widen. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“Why, kid? I thought you were happy here,” Derek says, looking almost as shocked as Penelope, tinged with a little guilt, the reason for which Spencer can’t place. 

“I was,” Spencer confirms. “But something has happened, the circumstances of which were completely out of my hands and… I can’t stay.” He very pointedly does not look at Aaron who is standing to the side, though he notices that Dave does. 

“What will you do now?” Alex asks gently in her typical non-judgemental way. 

“I’ve had a few offers to teach across the country and I’m considering them all,” he confesses. He doesn’t want to leave Virginia and DC, he loves his city and his friends and his apartment, but a fresh start sounds deliciously tempting right now.

“So you might be moving, too?” JJ asks incredulously. “Why didn’t you tell me, Spence?”

“I couldn’t before,” Spencer says miserably. “As I said, this is not within my control.” 

“Hotch aren’t you going to do something about this, man?” Derek accuses, looking bewildered. 

Aaron pushes himself away from where he’s been leaning and clears his throat. “This is Spencer’s decision,” he says diplomatically, though Spencer can see the hint of misery on his face and absolutely does not know what to make of it. “And as his friends, we should support him. We are family, and we will always be here for one another no matter what, whether we are physically or geographically close or otherwise.” Spencer has to look away and take a shaky breath of composure. 

“I need to go now,” Spencer says quickly and rushes out the door before anyone can stop him, praying that this isn’t the last time he sees his friends, fearing it will be. 

★

Surprisingly, Alex is the first one to come by his apartment. He’s been unemployed for two days and it suddenly feels like he’s allowed to wallow, allowed to mourn. He cries for his breakup, leaving the BAU, the loss of his family and it feels good to not have to suppress it. As painful as it has been to quit his job, the freedom he’s found proves it was the right thing to do.

He opens the door that Sunday morning dressed in only his bathrobe and some ratty pajamas, looking quite the picture with his greasy hair and unshaven face. “Alex?”

“Spencer, hey,” she says in that soothing tone of hers. “I was on my way to the supermarket and thought I’d swing by. Can I come in?”

“Uh, yeah, sorry,” he says, a little unsure of himself. 

“Don’t worry, I probably should have called ahead, but I just wanted to see how you were doing,” she smiles gently, taking a seat on his sofa as he closes the door before following and joining her. 

“No, it’s fine,” Spencer dismisses, but he rakes his palms up and down his thighs, unsure what Alex is really here for. “I’m doing okay, I suppose.”

Alexx purses her lips and looks down for a moment before making direct eye contact. “Spencer, is there something you’d like to talk about? I know you didn’t tell the whole story on Thursday and I thought I could be a non-judgemental listening ear for you.”

The thing about Alex is she hasn’t fully integrated herself into the group yet. She’s part of the family, sure, but she’s still the new person, the outsider in some ways, and she hasn’t firmly wedged herself into the dynamics. She’s probably the safest person to tell, for that reason. She’s not got the loyalties to the others like the rest of them do, if she knew his secret she wouldn’t feel like she had to share it.

“Aaron broke up with me,” he blurts out anxiously, relief spreading across his chest as he finally shares his burden with someone else. 

“Oh, Spencer,” she says sympathetically. “Would you like a hug?”

Suddenly that’s all he wants, so he throws himself into her arms and lets himself be held by her for a little while, revelling in her soft, gentle hand movements on his back and the comforting smell of her hair. 

“How long were you two together?” she asks kindly after he finally pulls away, sheepishly folding himself back into his corner of the sofa. 

“He broke up with me two weeks shy of our one year anniversary,” he confesses miserably, fiddling with his hands. 

“Wow. And you managed to keep it a secret the whole time?”

“Yes,” Spencer says, looking up to meet her eyes again. “We couldn’t tell anyone without jeapordising our careers and it felt like I was lying to my best friends the whole time, but having him be mine was worth it, so I didn’t tell a soul.” 

“I’m so sorry, Spencer,” Alex sighs. “Do you have any idea why he broke up with you?”

He didn’t. Not really anyway, not beyond the bullshit excuses Aaron had spewed, and that was the worst of it. Not knowing the real reason only led him to speculate, to lie awake at night and wonder if he got bored of him, if he didn’t find Spencer attractive enough, if he couldn’t put up with his eccentric personality anymore. The only thing he knew for sure was that it certainly wasn’t that ‘it’s too dangerous for us to be working together. Our careers could be ruined or a mistake could be made and I just don’t think it’s safe for us to see one another anymore, Spencer.’ 

“He said it was to do with work, but I don’t think that’s true,” Spencer replies. 

“No?”

“We’d worked together for a year without incident, we’d kept it underwraps and he’d said that once we could prove that it wasn’t a problem for us to work in the field as a couple beyond reasonable doubt we could tell everyone anyway. I think that was just an excuse to be rid of me.”

“Well, if that’s the case, then he’s a raving lunatic,” Alex declares, letting herself smile a little at Spencer. “I know it hurts now, but he clearly isn’t the man I thought he was -- you thought he was -- if he’s going to bow out like that. You’ll move on, and you’ll find someone who’s worth your time, okay?” 

That doesn’t feel at all possible. Loving anyone besides Aaron feels like a pipedream; he’d never loved anyone before so how could he possibly love anybody after? That man was it for Spencer, which only made it all that more painful when it came to pass that he wasn’t it for Aaron. He just smiles a little at Alex, appreciating her words even if he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe them. 

“Now, why don’t I put on a pot of tea and I could stay for a Harry Potter marathon, if you’d like?” Alex offers.

“You’d do that for me?”

“Spencer, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a person on the team who wouldn’t do anything for you,” she grins, ruffling his hair as she passes him to head to the kitchen, leaving him feeling just a little more whole. 

★

As good as wallowing in his loss had felt for the first couple of days, life goes on. After a long heart-to-heart with JJ and a fun night in when Derek and Penelope had joined them, he’d told them everything, making them promise to keep it quiet in order to allow Aaron to keep his job. He felt like he finally deserved to open himself up to his friends again, not live in a shadow desperately protecting a man who wanted nothing to do with him anymore. He took a lecturing position at Georgetown, which gave him the opportunity to conduct his own research and allowed him to stay in the city where his family lived. 

Everyone made a serious effort to see him outside of work, booking coffee dates, nights in, nights out, lunch breaks, dinners, whatever kind of get-togethers they could manufacture, and Spencer’s heart gradually began to heal just slightly. He still missed Aaron with a deep kind of longing that ached and pulsated in his chest non-stop, but he was getting used to it, getting used to pushing past it. He accepted that it might never go away, he might always have to live with this emptiness, but he could do it. He was strong enough. 

So four weeks into his new job, when one of the professors in the Humanities Department asks him on a dinner date, he accepts. Everyone’s happy for him, of course, although he expects that secretly, most of them are still holding out hope that Aaron will come to his senses. Spencer, however, is not about to wait around.

It goes well, initially. They head out for dinner and Jamie is a charming sweet-talker, not his usual type but neither of them are really expecting this to go anywhere serious, and they chat happily over posh food and expensive wine before splitting the bill and heading out of the restaurant. Spencer asks Jamie if he’d like to come back to his apartment, eager to get under someone else and forget about Aaron for a while. 

This does not go to plan: mostly because he ends up in the hospital. 

★

Some men do not take well to being told no, and Jamie is one of them, Spencer realises as he comes back around, blinking blearily against the weight of the unconsciousness slowly lifting. Apparently, he didn’t understand that consent was retractable; it could be withdrawn. He doesn’t think Jamie is still there, but he can’t see anywhere other than his immediate line of vision which happens to be… the skirting board? Stirring slowly, he manages to roll over and tentatively reach up to where his phone is sitting on the nightstand. 

He fumbles a few times but eventually manages to secure it in his hand, ignoring the burning inferno consuming his body. “Derek?” he whispers into the phone after he finally manages to dial the right number. “I need you to come over right now.”

Derek races over, breaking multiple traffic laws no doubt, and lets himself in before searching the apartment only to find Spencer lying on the floor next to his bed. “Fuck, what the hell happened, kid?” he says, raising his voice in alarm as he takes in the sight in front of him. 

“Is he… is he still here?” Spencer manages, face filled with fear.

“No, I looked around, there’s no-one here, pretty boy,” Derek soothes, running his finger across Spencer’s face gently. “Fuck, we need to get you to a hospital, alright?”

Spencer immediately starts crying, fear and panic bubbling to the surface. “No, Derek,” he pleads, tears running down his face. “No hospital.”

“Spencer, look at me,” Derek says firmly. “You have two black eyes and a broken cheekbone by the look of it, you can barely move and who knows what internal damage there might be. We are going to a hospital, right now.”

After much careful maneuvering, they manage to get situated in Derek’s car and he’s soon racing them to the nearest hospital and carrying him into the ER. Spencer’s quickly admitted, treated first for the visible injuries and then sent for scans to assess any invisible ones. 

Derek retreats to the waiting room, cursing himself for not having Penelope run a background check on that guy Spencer was going on a date with and letting himself have a moment of panic before he composes himself and gets his phone out of his pocket. “Hotch? We need to talk man.”

★

Aaron’s been beating himself up for weeks. He’d panicked as their one year anniversary had crept closer and closer and his own insecurities had been getting the better of him. What was Spencer doing with a divorced, widowed man nearing fifty when he was so young and beautiful he could have whoever he wanted. He’d thought he was saving them both the time and inevitable heartbreak, but as time’s gone on he’s been more and more aware of how utterly stupid he’s been. 

Spencer’s the best thing to ever happen to him besides Jack, the first person he ever truly loved. He’d loved Haley, of course, but with Spencer it was like something out of a soulmate romance novel, something astronomical, made in the stars, something heart-stopping. Something real. And he’d pushed him away. Worse than that, he’d pushed him out of the BAU, and the guilt and regret that sat so heavily on his chest each day felt like they were eating away at him. 

It’s late on a Saturday night when he hears the phone call from Morgan come in, heart sinking at the potential implications. He springs out of bed as soon as Morgan explains the situation, hurriedly getting dressed before rushing into Jack’s room to get him up. Telling Jack he’d broken up with Spencer had been one of the worst things he’d ever experienced. Jack cried for weeks, wanting ‘Spencie’ back, begging Aaron to take him to see him.

He drives as safely as possible across town, rushing into the ER department holding Jack’s hand. He clocks Derek waiting for him and sighs in relief as he walks up to him, face panicked as he asks about Spencer. 

“They’ve just taken him in for some scans to check for any internal damage,” Derek explains, trying to keep his voice as soothing as possible. Aaron’s sure he looks like he’s about to lose it. 

“Fuck,” Aaron grits out. “I’m gonna kill that son of a bitch.”

“Daddy?” 

He softens quickly at the sound of Jack’s unsure voice, squatting slightly to face him directly. “Hey, I’m sorry, buddy,” he says gently. “Daddy’s just worried because a friend is poorly, okay? I’m fine. Why don’t you go and play on your game boy on that seat over there, yeah?”

Jack nods and races over, never turning down the opportunity to play video games and Aaron sighs with relief internally at the ever-forgetful nature of children. 

“I’m sorry,” Aaron apologises to Derek as they sit down a couple seats away from Jack. 

“It’s alright, I get it,” Derek says understandingly. “You are aware that we all know you’re still in love with him, right?”

Aaron looks up in shock. “What?”

“Spencer told us what happened as soon as he left. And you do work with a team of profilers, Hotch, once we knew the basic facts we all figured out you were still gone for him and were just still being bonehead stupid about it.”

He almost argues, almost defends himself but the fight suddenly gives out from under him, the relief at having somebody know completely overwhelming. “God.” He runs a palm over his exhausted face.

Derek chuckles at that, nudging him in the side. “You have a chance, here, man. Spencer will be back shortly and you have to go and make this right. He’s still madly in love with you whatever he might say, and he’s gonna need you. This shit is gonna be traumatising for him.” He speaks firmly but his voice is so calm and encouraging, Aaron’s damn glad to have the friends he does. 

“Thanks, Derek,” Aaron smiles sincerely. 

They don't have to wait long before a nurse is calling them over and explaining that Spencer has a broken ankle, three fractured ribs, a cracked cheekbone and a whole lot of bruising. “You go ahead, Hotch,” Derek says, with a cheeky smile. “Get your man.” 

Aaron can’t help but smile fondly back at his friend, thanking him before following after the nurse. His smile drops as he looks through the window at Spencer’s lithe frame on the hospital bed, unfocused eyes gazing into the middle distance. He’s forever gonna be angry at himself for letting him go and Spencer’s date for doing this to him. 

He pushes open the door and Spencer turns his head to see who it is, almost flinching in surprise when he recognises him. “Hi,” he greets softly, taking a seat next to the bed. At least he hasn’t flipped his lip and forced him out yet. 

“What are you doing here?” Spencer whispers, eyes filling with tears. 

“Hey, hey,” he soothes instantly, wanting to brush his tears away but knowing it’s not his place. “I’m sorry. I can go if I’m making you uncomfortable. Derek rang me, and I’ve been trying to find a way to talk to you for weeks, Spencer, and I couldn’t stop myself from racing over here.”

“No, you’re not making me uncomfortable,” Spencer denies, curling into himself just a bit more. “It’s just that… if you’re here out of pity or something, you should just go. Please don’t give me false hope if you’re only going to let me down again.”

Something swells in Aaron’s chest at that. Spencer is hoping for something; maybe Derek was right and he really does have a chance here. “I’m not here out of pity, Spencer,” he denies, emotions swelling up inside him as he does nothing to prevent them from expressing themselves on his face. “I'm here to apologise. I made a terrible mistake all those weeks ago. It was entirely my own insecurities, I just couldn’t believe that someone like you would want to stay with someone like me long-term and I panicked. I thought that heartbreak was inevitable and I wanted to give myself a chance to get over you before I fell even deeper in love. I genuinely never thought that you’d be hurting, too. I was stupid, and I’m sorry.” 

He reaches a hand up to hold Spencer’s gently on the bed as he processes everything Aaron’s just told him. Just being able to touch him again, feeling Spencer’s soft, supple palm in his own feels like something clicking into place in his heart again.

“I thought you were tired of me,” Spencer says, voice and face covered in vulnerability. 

“What? No, of course not, Spencer,” he says vehemently. “I could never grow tired of you. As I said I was dumb, and I made a mistake that I know will be irreperable in some ways, but I’m not too proud this time to let you go without a fight. If you say no, I’ll respect that, of course I will. But I want to try and rebuild what we had, I want you to come back to the job and family you love.”

“I’ve waited so long to hear you say that,” Spencer says, happiness beginning to colour his tentative expression. “But it’s not going to be easy to get that trust back, Aaron. And you need to start working on your insecurity, especially if it’s going to interfere in our relationship so massively.”

“I’ve been thinking about getting a therapist for a while now,” Aaron admits. “And I’ll book an appointment for first thing next week, I promise. I’ll do anything to make this work again, Spencer. We can take it slow and build back up to what we had. I just need you to know that I still love you.”

“God,” Spencer says, voice thick with emotion. “I love you, too, you idiot.”

Aaron desperately wants to kiss him again, but he knows it’ll be better to stick to a fond smile for now. So he brushes his fingers gently through Spencer’s hair, smiling wider as his eyes flutter closed at the touch, leaning further into Aaron’s touch. 

★

After considering it carefully, Spencer asks him the next day if he can come and recover at his place. He’s in a lot of pain, both physical and emotional, and all he wants is to curl up into Aaron’s lap and never leave again, desperate for the comfort he could always provide him with. He tells the others the plan first and after they all agree that it sounds like a good idea he finally asks the one person whose opinion matters the most, and they both smile widely at the prospect of what’s to come.

Aaron carries him up to his apartment so he doesn’t have to use his crutches on the stairs and gets him comfortable on the sofa. “I’ve taken two weeks off from work,” he tells Spencer as he comes back into the living room with two cups of coffee and a slice of toast.

“You didn’t have to do that, Aaron,” he says softly, grinning up at him as he accepts the toast and coffee. “But thank you.” He looks at the other man earnestly, and a twist in his gut reminds him just how much he’s missed this, how much he loves Aaron. 

“Of course, I did,” he says gently, sitting on the other end of the sofa and resting a hand on Spencer’s good ankle, caressing it gently. “I want to be here to help you, I want to dedicate these weeks to recovery, both in your physical and mental health and our relationship.”

Spencer melts a little at that. He can see the fond softness around the edges of Aaron’s eyes and what seemed so impossible for two months is suddenly happening, life is good again. 

“Thank you, Aaron,” he says earnestly. He’d tearily stuttered through the story of what had happened on Saturday the next day, only feeling comfortable telling him. He knows that when Aaron had excused himself to the toilet afterwards, he’d cried, but he’d been kind and supportive ever since, somehow knowing exactly what to say and how to help him through the physical exams they kept having to do. 

“You’re welcome, baby,” he smiles, face soft and open in a way Spencer had missed so viscerally in the weeks he’d kept working at the BAU, not used to only being faced with a stoic Aaron, no hints of fondness to be found. The return of the nicknames, too, had been incredibly welcome. He’d blushed so hard the first time he did it in the hospital that he’d hid under the sheets, making Aaron chuckle and gently touch his face. 

With Jack at school, they spent their Monday sitting quietly in a comfortable silence, making sure to always be touching as they do their own thing. It reassures Spencer. He’d been nervous that there would be an awkwardness they couldn’t shake or a festering wound unaddressed, but it’s harmonious, peaceful, just right. It’s like the hole that burned through his chest two months ago, the black abyss that rotted and ached and degraded, has finally closed up. 

Jack stays at Jessica’s for dinner while Aaron cooks for him, making him feel loved and special as he cooks the dinner he always used to make for special occasions, feeding him bites with the evening news on low volume in the background. “I’ve missed you so much,” Aaron tells him, as he gathers their plates to take back to the kitchen. “You’ll never know just how much it means to me that you took me back.”

“I wouldn’t have done if I didn’t miss you just as much, Aaron,” Spencer smiles. “Now, finish clearing up so you can come and give me cuddles.”

“Yes, sir,” Aaron teases, kissing his head gently on the way to the kitchen. 

When he comes back into the living room, Spencer is sitting upright, looking at him expectantly. “Okay, baby?” he asks. 

“Aaron,” Spencer whispers, tone of voice setting an intensity to the mood. “Kiss me.” 

He can’t sit down fast enough, positioning himself right next to Spencer on the sofa so he can easily cradle his non-broken cheek in his hand and kiss him softly. The final puzzle piece slots into place as they kiss leisurely, both appreciating the return of the other, the safety and gentleness they can provide. They pull apart naturally, staying close together as they breathe in the sanctity of the moment, the confirmation that this is real, they are whole again. 

They arrange themselves so Spencer is resting comfortably against Aaron’s chest, nestling into his neck as the pain intensifies slightly. “Are you comfortable, sweetheart?” he asks, running a gentle hand up his side in a soothing motion, sure to avoid his broken ribs. 

“As comfortable as possible,” Spencer reasons. “Comfortable with you. You make me feel safe.” 

“Well, sweetheart, if there’s nothing else I achieve in this life, that would be enough.” Aaron kisses the top of Spencer’s head as they settle into one another, content to rest and recuperate in a quiet, peaceful moment. 

It’s not long before Jack’s racing through the door, though, Jessica following closely behind. She smiles fondly at the two of them before giving Aaron a quick rundown of the day. Jack can hardly wait to get to Spencer, though, throwing his arms around his neck, ignoring Aaron’s warning to be careful. 

“Spencie, you’re back!”

“Whoa, hey buddy!” Spencer says enthusiastically, ignoring the pain his body’s in in favour of hugging Jack, kissing his cheek before he can protest. 

“Spencie, does this mean you’re daddy’s boyfriend again?” he asks innocently, bouncing on his toes as he crosses his fingers far too obviously. 

Spencer casts a knowing look up at Aaron before he grins. “Yes, Jack. I’m daddy’s boyfriend again.”

**Author's Note:**

> CW: Spencer has sex with a man (not Aaron) who does not understand that consent can be withdrawn. He gets angry when Spencer wants to stop and physically assaults him. This is only discussed vaguely and the actual event does not feature in the fic. 
> 
> Just a few disclaimers: the recovery that Spencer would have ahead of him would not be easy. I wasn't sure I could do recovery from this sort of thing justice so I ended it here. Also, their getting back together scene could be construed as unrealistic BUT I wanted to have fun and it's fiction so I do what I want.
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated and make me very happy, but honestly just so glad you're here!
> 
> Here's the link to the [rebloggable post](https://spencers-renaissance.tumblr.com/post/635154441366093824/living-the-same-lie) if that's your jam -- or follow my fic challenge [here](https://spencers-renaissance.tumblr.com/post/632066323518816256/12-fic-challenge-masterpost) if you'd like <3


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